VARIOUS ARTISTS

Creeping Cinquefoil BuriEd trEasurE Berkshire indie celebrates five years of library-centric sounds.

Conceptually speaking, Buried Treasure exists somewhere between the haunted synthedelia of Ghost Box and the alternative nostalgia of Trunk Records. Creeping Cinquefoil (a yellowflowered roadside weed, FYI), is the label’s fifth anniversary compilation, a “20 track selection of 1970s and 1980s library music, 1960s radiophonics, spoken word, punk, funk, jazz, prog, psych, folk, experimental electronics & more.” Given the broad sweep of their catalogue, you might expect a rather disjointed listening experience. But there’s a thread that holds the whole thing together, an idea that genres are a fiction and eclecticism rules.

This is what makes library music so attractive. Moonlighting composers, jazz musicians and the occasional rock band would produce and anonymously release songs and idents, any of which might wind up in adverts, documentaries, public information films, or as theme tunes. BT has unearthed some fine examples: Jim Lawless’ Tribal Warfare pits a grungy riff and pulsing bass against a mesh of vibes and congas; John Baker’s The Ice Cream Man is like wandering in fog with just chilly synth, atonal keys and nervous toms for company; Gerhard Narholz’s UFO Invasion features crushed guitar, groovy organ and horn stabs, and is the epitome of library funk.

But Buried Treasure also releases contemporary artists who embrace a similar style of musical pick’n’mix. In-house band Revbjelde (helmed by label head Alan Gubby) feature throughout, from the swinging spy music with punky vocals of Another Fake Production to the John Barry-esque dulcimer and cooing maiden of Brigantia Lufian. Tongues Of Fire’s Lion (Jung Collective Rehash) is the type of jazzy, brass-led trip hop that Mo’Wax might once have released. And Alan Moore & The Dandelion Set kick the album off in fine style with Judy Switched Off The TV, the bard of Northampton conjuring droll visions of an urban apocalypse over a jabbing keyboard riff.

There’s still plenty of gold in them crates if you know where to dig.